Photo Resolution 2010

Did any of you join in with the resolution to take 365 photos last year? Taking a photo a day seems a little overwhelming to me but kudos to those of you that were successful! I'm a picture taker in general but I wouldn't have made it past the second month. Trust me, my life just isn't that interesting!

I read recently where a fellow blogger was revising the 365 photo idea and making it her goal to take 52 photos this year, one photo a week. That I CAN handle and I think I'll join her. I figure Wednesdays are as good as any so here are my photos for week 1 and week 2 of this new year 2010!

At a time when much of the United States is frozen over, I can honestly say this in regards to these 2 photos...only in California!

1/52:


2/52:


Both photos taken in my backyard, January 2010.

Another One Bites The Dust

About 2 years ago, I got an iPod just like this one...


I had hundreds of songs loaded on this baby and I loved it. It literally took hours and hours to load all of those songs but it was worth it. I had such a variety and enjoyed listening to them while walking or in the car.

Then, out of the blue it died. We couldn't even get enough of a charge to transfer the songs onto my new computer so that we could put them on a new iPod. I was bummed but what can you do about it. We had our Hawaii trip planned and I knew I'd be doing alot of walking so I went to Costco and got this one. Still an iPod Nano but a newer generation...


Well, of course, every time you get anything new or any kind of an upgrade, none of the old accessories work on the new one! Surprise surprise, the new iPod was wider of course and therefore wouldn't fit into my old armband that I use when walking. We all know it's a ploy for these companies to make the consumer spend more money and it drives me bonkers! Sooo, that meant I had to buy another one of these too....


Ok, so are you still with me!?!

Now since my new iPod only had the 15 or so songs loaded on it that I bought from iTunes, hubby was going to start downloading some of the CD's onto it. Well, son of a gun, nothing, nada, zippo! Again, wouldn't charge up a bit!

I only bought the thing 3 months ago so hubby headed to Costco this morning and came home with this...


Oh my gosh, now with the armband thing again!!

Obviously, again, this iPod is much wider. Can anyone use an armband for the iPod Nano? I've got one I won't be using!

Hopefully the 3rd time will be a charm! Wish me luck! By the way, the iPod Touch can hold up to 14,000 songs. This otta keep my husband busy for days!

We've Got Great News!

Macey came home from the hospital Saturday afternoon! We are so happy for her and her family and so thankful for her quick recovery. It's a miracle that she survived her injuries but we all know that it's because of the grace of God that she is here with us today. Macey is a testament to the power of prayer!

McKenzie was over tonight and told us that after the accident, Macey scored 3 on the Glasgow Coma Scale. Doctors use the Glasgow Coma Scale to assess the severity of a person's brain injury. Scoring 3-8 is considered a severe unconscious state, with no meaningful response, no voluntary activities. Macey was a 3. Less than 3 is a vegetative state. Macey's recovery truly is nothing short of miraculous.

Macey will be receiving rehab treatment here in town and they have been told it will take up to a year before she is her old self again. Knowing Macey, that means it will be 3-6 months, tops! During the brain surgery after her accident, they took off a flap of skull to help relieve brain swelling. This flap was surgically placed back over her brain last week. Since this last surgery, she's not been able to completely use her left side and it's frustrating to her. Although Macey doesn't remember any of it, her left side was paralyzed after the first surgery too but thankfully she regained function. The doctors feel she will regain function once again soon. A big issue now is her mobility, of which she has none. When she was hit by the car, per pelvis was completely broken in two. It was fixed only a short time ago so she is to have no weight bearing for 2 months I believe. She'll be spending lots and lots of therapy hours helping her walk, but again, these hurdles are nothing compared to what she's already overcome. She's a fighter and she has youth on her side.

Thank you all again for your heartfelt prayers for beautiful Macey. We never know why God allows things to happen but we do know it's not our place to know the answers at this time. We'll have all of the answers and more when we get to heaven. In the meantime, Macey and her family are all home safe and sound.

God is good!

It's Starting To Feel Like Old Times

It will be 6 weeks tomorrow that I broke my ankle. Although I think I've done extremely well and taken it all in stride, it hasn't been fun and games that's for sure. In fact, it's been one big drag! Thankfully though, the end is in sight and the doctor says it's healing up nicely. He told me at my appointment on Thursday that I can start putting pressure on it as I see fit. So far I'm too chicken to put any direct pressure on it (without the boot) but I will soon. I'm taking it slow.

The good news is that I'm starting to feel like my old self again. This last week I discovered I could get around fine with the boot and using only one crutch or none at all. It just made all the difference in the world in my independence and I've been on the go ever since. I got a haircut, took Jake to get groomed, have been to the bank, doctor's office, to the mall and on multiple shopping excursions, out to eat, and to the movies. Yep, it's starting to feel like old times.

Speaking of movies, we went to see It's Complicated. How can you not love a movie when it's starring Meryl Streep! I just love her and I really enjoyed the movie. It had some very funny scenes and I found myself laughing out loud alot. Oh, and the house in the movie is beautiful. I read recently that the interior decorator that did the gorgeous house in the movie Something's Got To Give (with Diane Keaton) was the decorator for this house too. The property was stunning and I can just picture it situated there in Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara is a gorgeous part of California and it's only about 1 1/2 hours from us. In fact, my daughter spent New Year's Eve in Ventura with one of her roommates from college and they went to visit the girl's grandmother in Santa Barbara on Wednesday before New Year's Eve. Come to find out, the grandmother is neighbors with Oprah! Courtney said Oprah's house is pretty well secluded but you could see the helicopter landing pad on Oprah's property from the grandmother's backyard. Pretty neat huh!


You should go see it, you'll enjoy it.

It's Friday

And I'm nosy...

So here's the question: Do you own a Snuggie?

My very sweet kids got me one for Christmas. It's pink and I love it!

The store was out of the regular adult size Snuggies so they got me the Snuggie for children.

It fits perfectly!

A Must See!

Do you go to the movies often? It has to be a really good movie to get me into the theater. I don't know why I don't go more often because I really do enjoy it when I go. I guess I'm just picky. I don't like foul language, explicit scenes be it violence or sexual, and one thing's certain...I don't like horror movies! My heart can't take it. Nope, no way!

Well, this may be old news, but The Blind Side is a must see! It's such a feel good movie. We loved it!

I meant to mention it last week but forgot about it until a friend wrote about it today. We went just after Christmas and Courtney and I were crying from the beginning until the end...but crying in a good way. We cry easily!

"According to Variety, "The Blind Side" is the first movie ever "driven solely by a top female star" to break $200 million. Over the weekend, the drama box office receipts totaled $208.5 million." Yes, it's that good and Sandra Bullock is outstanding. She did a fabulous job as did Tim McGraw.

If you haven't seen The Blind Side, go see it. It will become your new favorite.

We're going to see It's Complicated tomorrow night. I'll let you know how it is.

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a fun, safe New Year's! I just keep thinking about it being 2010 and truthfully, it leaves me dumbfounded. It seems like only 4-5 years ago that we were all talking about Y2K but it's been 10 years already. It really scares me how fast time flies by.

We spent the holiday weekend with camping buddies and always have such an enjoyable time but even still, I wasn't looking forward to going RVing this weekend. I only went because hubby really really wanted to go and friends were really really bugging us to go, so we went.

From the get go, I wasn't thrilled with the thought of going up and down the RV stairs with crutches, maneuvering in the RV shower on one foot, or the fact that we weren't even going to be parked near friends. We reserved our spot at a later date and all of the spaces close to our friends were taken already. I never knew camping over New Year's was such a popular time but it is. One family provided us with a golf cart which was very kind but I still wasn't super happy about the whole set up. I would have been just as happy to stay home.

Well, with that being said, this weekend was one of those times that I just decided to go with it, to keep my mouth shut, and to feed myself positive thoughts about the situation. I have found it truly is mind over matter and the desire to be happy in any given situation IS in our control. I know first hand it's not easy, but our happiness truly is up to us. If I've learned anything at my age, I've learned that I cannot look to others for my happiness. I have to make it on my own. Am I happy to be home? Yes! But did I have a nice, enjoyable weekend after all? Yes! And the best part about it is that I feel very satisfied and happy with the outcome. More fun times and great memories were made with family and friends this past weekend. I could have chosen to sulk around in the motorhome or have a bad attitude. I'm glad I didn't choose either one.

Thursday night, New Year's Eve, we had an excellent potluck in one of the clubhouses. We had so much food and it was all so delicious. I asked the guys to line up and this is what I got. I think a few of them thought they were Chippendale dancers or something...


Ok, so then I asked the husbands to take some pictures of us girls...


And this is what we got. They didn't even get all of us in the photos!



I'm sure these next 2 photos were taken by women friends. The photos are centered and we're pretty much looking in the same direction...



Guy friends...


Girl friends...


Family...


And of course, the best traveling buddy around. Notice how he's always got to be touching his momma!



We've been blessed to make many wonderful memories with these camping buddies. I'm sure 2010 will bring many more!